PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd used his first state-of-the-nation address to warn Australians of the “worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression”, striking fear into the hearts and minds of those who have not been following the meltdown.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has jetted off on his 19-day global lap of honour, having presided over a meeting of the Commonwealth and states that dragged the nation backwards on a number of significant fronts.
THE massive anti-terrorism raids conducted across Sydney and Brisbane were the latest wake-up call Australia has received to the very real threat within our border.
WHILE the risk of domestic terrorism has been dramatically increased, the Greens and some Leftists are still trying to prevent security agencies from accessing their most effective tool against terrorists. That would be the metadata (don’t be frightened by the term) currently held by some but not all communications companies.
FORGET the Grinch that stole Christmas.
INDONESIAN volcano Mount Merapi and Prime Minister Julia Gillard have something in common.
PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has used his “understanding” of China to surf the diplomatic circuit but it is all a nonsense unless he uses his special relationship with Beijing to plead for China to take a critical role in Zimbabwe.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is still on the run from the Australia Day riot her staff organised.In Parliament yesterday she shrieked and shouted, rolled her eyes and waved her arms, but she would not face the truth.She would not confront the fact that violent protesters from the so-called Tent Embassy were contacted by a member of her staff who urged them to take their mob to the Lobby restaurant and blockade Opposition leader Tony Abbott.She would not admit that there was a riot there, even though video showing her looking frightened and pathetic as she was being dragged out of the restaurant by her security detail.
The three anti-whaling protesters returned to Australia yesterday want taxpayers to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for their stunt.Protester Geoffrey Tuxworth apparently spent his time aboard the Japanese ship Shonan Maru II calculating that it would have cost taxpayers only about $1 each for the Australian government to send the Customs vessel Ocean Protector to bring them back to shore.“About the cost of it, I’ve actually sat down and done the maths and it works out about $1 per taxpayer,” Tuxworth told his ABC listeners on Triple J.“I mean is that too much? One dollar each to save a whole bunch of whales?”Except for the fact that Tuxworth and his colleagues Glen Pendlebury and Simon Peterffy illegally boarded the foreign vessel and broke a number of Australian and international laws and, yes, there is no evidence that any whale was any better off for their action.
THIS month’s election should be as open as the Melbourne Cup and, on its form, the ALP would be all but unbackable, but the polls’ relentless support for Labor indicates there may be as many mug voters as there are mug punters willing to throw away their money.
THE confessed alien unlawful enemy combatant David Hicks will be released from Adelaide’s Yatala prison before the New Year to a hero’s welcome from a misguided few.
NEXT Wednesday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will ease himself back onto his bicycle for the 13th annual Melbourne-to-Sydney charity ride. There is no doubt he will pedal into a headwind of criticism from the Labor Party, just as when he swam, cycled and ran a full 42km marathon in a charity fundraising iron man event last weekend.
THE sweeping scope of Julia Gillard’s breathtaking lies in defence of her broken promise on a carbon tax should bury her political career.
Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/piers-akerman/page/139